That’s about how bad the officiating is in the NFL this year. I’ve quit watching NFL football and won’t start again until they fire a bunch of useless officials and put a system in place to continuously get rid of the screw-ups. Can you imagine if a team were to keep players who constantly fumbled the ball or dropped every pass thrown to them
Until the NFL hires and trains Full Time Professional Referees and pays them a decent living wage commiserate with the position, AND keeps its grubby hands off them – giving them the autonomy needed to actually do their job properly, you will continue to have these problems.
By taking the game away from the guys who are actually on the field and turning it over to untrained technos in a control booth, you going to have these outrageous calls. Most of these idiots in the booth have never refereed a real game in their live !
Linguist, by any chance are you an NFL referee? Seriously, most of the mistakes this year have been by on the field officials. They actually need someone in the booth who can buzz in and tell them when they made a mistake so they can correct it. Some of the mistakes have probably changed the outcome of games and that is totally unacceptable.
You might think I have no idea what I’m talking about but I have done some refereeing myself so I know the difficulties faced by on the field officials. More eyes watching plays with authority not less is the key.
I grew up 60 miles south of Chicago — born in 1960. BECAUSE the Bears were terrible in the 70’s …I became a Packer’s fan at age 12 or so. Never looked back.
The NFL is the only major sports league in the country that allows their games (aka “their product”) to be officiated by people who spend weekdays stocking shelves or selling insurance.
I penciled it out and if they paid 16 seven-man crews an average of $200,000 a season per man (currently it’s $170K) to make this their only job, it would cost a little over $22 million a year, or $700,000 per team. Chump change for a multibillion-dollar business like the NFL. Instead, they prefer telling the world how little they care about their product by putting it in the hands of moonlighters.
And as long as tickets and merch keep selling and the TV money keeps rolling in, they’ll do nothing. If it ain’t broke…
I grew up on Michigans Gold Coast and because we could easily get Wisconson TV stations I became a Packers fan along about 1965 pre Super Bowl and pre Ice bowl game against the Cowboys. Which I have had a very strong dislike for ever since.Watching the after game interviews on the NFL network yesterday, I admit to being surprised to see the coaches gagged by the NFL. And you could see that several coaches were really steaming. I wonder what, if anything, the NFL is planning on doing next year. So far this year it looks like replacement officials have snuck in as they were no where near as bad last year. Or is it that so many calls are being reversed by the video guys. I really do not recall them being this bad way back in the 1970-80s when I bet on NFL and College games every weekendSo having 12 men on the field is no longer a penalty? Or is it not being called because the refs would have to take off their shoes and socks just to count that high
All sports officials have a very difficult and thankless job. What they do is integral to the fairness of the competition and the authenticity of the result. Clearly baseball has done the best job of all the major sports by virtue of making officiating a true career, and by training and promoting its officials from within. Football and basketball treat college and high school as their training ground – their “minor leagues”, if you will – for both officials and players. And they get what they pay for. As at least one commenter above noted, as long as the dough keeps rolling in from merchandise, broadcast rights, & ticket sales, they have no incentive to care about their system or to change it. They use and abuse all who work for them, especially the players, then simply discard them when they can no longer perform at an outrageously high level.
@jonesb. The Bucs have kept those receivers for years. QBs who couldn’t get the ball there. Lines who couldn’t protect that QB -and when we got talent, we traded it or let it go. So uhm, what was your point, exactly?
jonesb almost 9 years ago
That’s about how bad the officiating is in the NFL this year. I’ve quit watching NFL football and won’t start again until they fire a bunch of useless officials and put a system in place to continuously get rid of the screw-ups. Can you imagine if a team were to keep players who constantly fumbled the ball or dropped every pass thrown to them
Linguist almost 9 years ago
Until the NFL hires and trains Full Time Professional Referees and pays them a decent living wage commiserate with the position, AND keeps its grubby hands off them – giving them the autonomy needed to actually do their job properly, you will continue to have these problems.
By taking the game away from the guys who are actually on the field and turning it over to untrained technos in a control booth, you going to have these outrageous calls. Most of these idiots in the booth have never refereed a real game in their live !
sassymm almost 9 years ago
Linguist, by any chance are you an NFL referee? Seriously, most of the mistakes this year have been by on the field officials. They actually need someone in the booth who can buzz in and tell them when they made a mistake so they can correct it. Some of the mistakes have probably changed the outcome of games and that is totally unacceptable.
You might think I have no idea what I’m talking about but I have done some refereeing myself so I know the difficulties faced by on the field officials. More eyes watching plays with authority not less is the key.
Alan2112 Premium Member almost 9 years ago
I grew up 60 miles south of Chicago — born in 1960. BECAUSE the Bears were terrible in the 70’s …I became a Packer’s fan at age 12 or so. Never looked back.
Guilty Bystander almost 9 years ago
The NFL is the only major sports league in the country that allows their games (aka “their product”) to be officiated by people who spend weekdays stocking shelves or selling insurance.
I penciled it out and if they paid 16 seven-man crews an average of $200,000 a season per man (currently it’s $170K) to make this their only job, it would cost a little over $22 million a year, or $700,000 per team. Chump change for a multibillion-dollar business like the NFL. Instead, they prefer telling the world how little they care about their product by putting it in the hands of moonlighters.
And as long as tickets and merch keep selling and the TV money keeps rolling in, they’ll do nothing. If it ain’t broke…
timbob2313 Premium Member almost 9 years ago
I grew up on Michigans Gold Coast and because we could easily get Wisconson TV stations I became a Packers fan along about 1965 pre Super Bowl and pre Ice bowl game against the Cowboys. Which I have had a very strong dislike for ever since.Watching the after game interviews on the NFL network yesterday, I admit to being surprised to see the coaches gagged by the NFL. And you could see that several coaches were really steaming. I wonder what, if anything, the NFL is planning on doing next year. So far this year it looks like replacement officials have snuck in as they were no where near as bad last year. Or is it that so many calls are being reversed by the video guys. I really do not recall them being this bad way back in the 1970-80s when I bet on NFL and College games every weekendSo having 12 men on the field is no longer a penalty? Or is it not being called because the refs would have to take off their shoes and socks just to count that high
phoenixnyc almost 9 years ago
On another front, why is Tank doing play-by-play when ex-jocks usually do analysis?
Godfreydaniel almost 9 years ago
The problem isn’t so much the judgment calls (which can be debated), this season it seems like the officials don’t know the rulebook very well.
pschearer Premium Member almost 9 years ago
“Surpised”? I’m calling it an incomplete surprise.
Old Man River almost 9 years ago
I applied to the NFL for a officiating job, but I was wrong only 80% of the time, so I didn’t get the job. They sent me to FIFA
Liverlips McCracken Premium Member almost 9 years ago
All sports officials have a very difficult and thankless job. What they do is integral to the fairness of the competition and the authenticity of the result. Clearly baseball has done the best job of all the major sports by virtue of making officiating a true career, and by training and promoting its officials from within. Football and basketball treat college and high school as their training ground – their “minor leagues”, if you will – for both officials and players. And they get what they pay for. As at least one commenter above noted, as long as the dough keeps rolling in from merchandise, broadcast rights, & ticket sales, they have no incentive to care about their system or to change it. They use and abuse all who work for them, especially the players, then simply discard them when they can no longer perform at an outrageously high level.
brewingbiker almost 9 years ago
@jonesb. The Bucs have kept those receivers for years. QBs who couldn’t get the ball there. Lines who couldn’t protect that QB -and when we got talent, we traded it or let it go. So uhm, what was your point, exactly?